Because of you
by Boneslove-2991
Summary: Brennan never told anyone exactly what happened when she was in the foster system. Living the nightmare was hard enough, but maybe it was reliving it every night for fifteen years that made it all the more painful.


Temperance Brennan was only a fifteen year old, sitting on the front porch steps of the people who were to be her foster family. On the outside, it just a normal house. Flowers lined the porch, barbecue off to the side, curtains on the windows. Normal. Even at first, the inside was normal too. A married man and woman, Randall and Carrie Lee, living their everyday lives, and now, they were getting the first kid to ever step foot in the house. They seemed kind enough, almost like her own parents. Maybe that was what urged her to rush to the privacy of her room so she could let loose her emotions. When she finally wiped away her tears, she came out of her room to the confused, hurt, and worried gazes of her foster parents. Seeing their faces, she was also hurt. These were new parents. They probably believed they were doing something wrong with her.

She vowed at that very moment to be the best daughter to them, so maybe her stay wouldn't be that bad.

It worked, until that very night when everything changed.

_I will not make the same mistakes that you did_

She was just falling asleep in her new bed when the yelling started. Brennan's eyes flared open, and silently she walked to her door and opened it slowly. Randall was pacing around the table, yelling, and Carrie sat in her chair, head in her hands, sobbing.

"Why did you go against me and become a foster parent? I told you what I thought about that! That girl is a mess. I could easily see why her parents left her! You saw how she just ran off into her room within the first five minutes of stepping through our door."

"Maybe she wasn't like that before her family left her," Carrie spoke shakily, through her tears. "She looks like she's been through a lot. She deserves a loving family."

He stepped forward toward her, "Do I look like I want to take care of her?"

Randall stalked off, but not before knocking everything off the table. He walked toward Brennan's room and she quickly and silently shut her door and got back in bed. She sighed in relief when he went right past her door and on to his bedroom.

_I will not let myself  
__Cause my heart so much misery_

A few minutes had past when Brennan heard the faint sound of someone opening and closing her door. Someone was in her room, but she had no clue who it was so she pretended to be asleep and waited. The person walked carefully towards the bed and sat down next to her. Soft fingers trembled as they touched her face, and Brennan knew it was Carrie. Carrie placed a soft kiss on her forehead.

"I think you should have a loving family," she whispered.

Brennan smiled inwardly. It's not the perfect family, but at least one person in this world who loved her. She could not say the same for her own family. As Carrie quietly left the room, her thoughts floated to Randall. What will happen to her with him for the rest of her stay here?

_I will not break the way you did  
__You fell so hard  
__I've learned the hard way  
__To never let it get that far_

If she thought the previous night was bad, the next morning was worse. Randall was in a bad mood, Carrie was jumpy, and Brennan was silent, not wanting to say or do something to set Randall off. After two seconds, she knew that was going to be impossible not to.

"What are you being so depressed about?" he growled.

Brennan's head snapped up, and she glared at him, "I'm not depressed."

"You sure as hell look like you are."

"I'm fine," she said loudly, almost yelling.

"Oh, sure. In other words to leave you alone. Guess what, young lady." His fists slammed against the table, making both women jump in their seats. "This is my house, my rules. What I say, goes, and I say go to your room!"

Brennan's eyes narrowed in defiance. "I have to go to school."

Both Brennan and Randall stood at that very second and Randall moved in front of her and grabbed a hold of her arm.

"You aren't going anywhere today except for your room."

She tried to break free from his grasp but he just retaliated by tugging her. Unintentionally, her nightgown, which she was still wearing, snagged onto a drawer handle when he tugged her. With a loud rip, the back end had come apart.

_Because of you  
__I never stray too far from the sidewalk_

Tears filled her eyes, but before any of them could fall, she fought free and rushed out of the house towards her school. Once she reached the next corner, she wiped at her tears and assessed the damage. The lower back area was now a disaster. She didn't grab her backpack or a coat, so there was no chance of being able to hide it. There was no way she was going back to the house to change and get her stuff. At least, not yet. She just had to hope the school had an extra pair of clothes.

_Because of you  
__I learned to play on the safe side so I don't get hurt_

Strange looks and laughs followed her for the rest of the run to the school. She forced her mind to forget them. Brennan told herself that she could not let them get the satisfaction of knowing that their actions had hurt her. Thankfully, the school had an extra pair of clothes and gave them to her. However, she knew the damage had already been done. She was going to be known as the slutty new girl from this moment on, until she left this school. She never used to care about what others thought about her; her brother, Russ, had always been there to tell her to ignore them. If only he could be there now, but no, he, too, had left her. Now, she was dealing with the torture of her peers. Some of the kids would laugh and say "Hot underwear, new girl!" others would slap her butt, and even some of the guys would try to corner her and touch her.

It was unbelievably tough not to cry that entire day.

_Because of you  
__I find it hard to trust not only me, but everyone around me_

She sighed in relief when school was over. It was all 'his' fault that she had to go through what she did, but she decided to go back to the house. It was so much better than the school. At least it was one person instead of hundreds she would have to deal with. Still, she couldn't help but stand in front of the house in slight fear when she arrived.

Would he be there? What else would he do to publically humiliate her?

_Because of you  
__I am afraid_

He was in the backyard when she finally got the guts to walk inside. Her feet moved her toward the bathroom, and it was then that she could see what the day did to her. Her eyes were dead, her hair was mousy, and her body looked pale and fragile. She was so small. Brennan didn't even believe she could even smile. She heard the backdoor open so she quickly cleaned up. She peeked out the door and saw Randall now sitting on the couch, beer and a TV remote in hand. Immediately, she rushed into her room and started on her schoolwork. Luckily for her, she had only biology homework that day. It was her favorite subject.

Hours past. She was still stuck into her biology book, going farther and farther into the chapters doing future assignments. It gave her something to do to try to ignore the man in the other room yelling drunkenly at the TV. Then suddenly, it was quiet. It took Brennan a minute to realize it, but it frightened her a bit. What was Randall doing?

_I lose my way  
__And it's not too long before you point it out  
__I cannot cry  
__Because you know that's weakness in your eyes_

The door slammed open, and Brennan jumped, falling out of her bed. Randall came into the room and grabbed her arm roughly, dragging her to her feet. Punches and kicks were thrown at her, and she tried to block as much as she could. After a while, she ran out of energy to fight him and collapsed. Still she was being beaten on, and Brennan closed her eyes, hoping it would be over soon. She was thankful when the darkness began to overwhelm her.

The next morning, when she woke up, her body ached everywhere and not just for laying on the floor all night. She could see the dark bruises beginning to form on her arms. Brennan shuddered. She really didn't want to see where her other bruises were. She searched her bag for a pair of jeans and a turtleneck shirt. No one else could see what he had done to her. She peeked out of her room and saw Randall and Carrie sitting at the kitchen table eating. Before they could see her, she grabbed her stuff and ran into the bathroom, locking the door behind her. She looked at her face and growled when she saw it was worse than yesterday. Blood had caked over her nose and down her cheek, a dark bruise was on her other cheek. She grabbed a washcloth and began to clean herself up, and put on her make-up to cover herself up. When she was finished the only way people would notice was if they were close up to her.

_I'm forced to fake  
A smile, a laugh everyday of my life  
My heart can't possibly break  
When it wasn't even whole to start with_

If she thought the previous day was bad at school, this day was worse. Not only were the others still laughing at her, she was being pushed around, poked and prodded, and it hurt. Every bit of it. At least, it had calmed down a bit once lunch time came around. She still was sitting at the lunch table alone, but maybe that wasn't such a bad idea at the moment. She didn't need to add more for the others to laugh about.

_Because of you  
I never stray too far from the sidewalk_

About fifteen minutes into the lunch period, someone did sit next to her. It was a guy around her age. That was worse than if it was a girl.

"Hey, you're that new girl, right?"

'Go ahead and get it out,' she thought bitterly. Silently, she turned away, as if trying to block out the comments she was sure was going to come her way.

_Because of you  
I learned to play on the safe side so I don't get hurt  
Because of you  
I find it hard to trust not only me, but everyone around me_

"Hey, I'm trying to talk to you," he said.

"Doesn't mean I have to talk back," she growled.

He grabbed one her arms and the sleeve of her shirt went up, revealing a dark bruise. "What happened to you?"

She snatched her arm back and stood up. "Please, just leave me alone."

Ignoring the looks she got, she ran as fast as she could from the cafeteria.

_Because of you  
I am afraid_

Upon arriving at the house, after school, she caught Randall with tears streaming down his face. Brennan froze as he turned to her. He pushed her towards her room and once again started to beat on her until she was once again unconscious. Once she woke up again, it was dark and a quick glance at her clock told her it was two in the morning. Slowly, she managed to get back up on her feet. She turned to get into her bed, but heard some noises coming from Randall and Carrie's room. She tiptoed towards the door and saw Randall shaking with tears in his sleep.

_I watched you die  
I heard you cry every night in your sleep_

Carrie sat next to him, contiplating whether to wake him up or not. The door creaked slightly as Brennan leaned forward a bit. Carrie's head snapped up and saw the girl there. Slowly, she got up and came over to her.

"I'm going to stop this now," Carrie whispered. "We can't live like this."

Brennan nodded and watched as Carrie went over towards the phone and started dialing a number. She looked back in the bedroom at Randall's sleeping form.

_I was so young  
You should have known better than to lean on me  
You never thought of anyone else  
You just saw your pain_

Early morning arrived, and so did a few cops. Carrie and Brennan watched as they took Randall and placed him in one of the cars in handcuffs. His eyes looked haunted as they shut the doors. With Randall gone, the air was almost peaceful again. That is, until breakfast. Brennan's social worker stopped by, once she had heard about what had happened with Randall.

"I'm going to have to move you to another foster home. You have until tomorrow morning to get your stuff packed up," she had told them.

Brennan didn't go to school that day, which she wasn't looking forward to going to anyway. A different home and a different school would be better for her.

That night, Brennan cried. Not for having to leave the very next morning, but rather from the nightmares of Randall that had started and would plague her for many more years to come.

_And now I cry in the middle of the night  
For the same damn thing_

"Temperance! Bones! Wake up."

She awoke to her soaked pillow and her partner sitting next to her as she laid down on her couch in her office.

"It's just a dream," he whispered comfortingly.

Brennan shook her head. "If only it really was."

She told him everything that had happened during that time period and he listened like she had hoped he would. Occasionally, she would try to wipe away a new tear that kept forming, but Booth wiped them away himself.

The very second she finished, she found herself in his arms as he gave her a hug. She smiled slightly as she relaxed. Booth was quite possibly the best friend she'd have.

"Thank you for telling me, Temperance," he whispered softly into her ear. "Are you going to be alright?"

"I think so," she whispered right back. When he hugged her tighter, she chuckled, "I won't be for much longer if you keep hugging me like this."

He laughed and hugged her even more tightly, until she started trying to push him away. When he let her go, he was relieved to see that while the traces of tears still remained, laughter was once again in her eyes. Maybe one day her nightmares would go away and there wouldn't be anymore tears. Until then, he was perfectly content with trying to cheer her up.


End file.
